āThere were a lot of years when we were diseased pariahs. One of the ways to reclaim yourself from that kind of categorization is to state I am fully who I am, and you canāt make me ashamed.ā ā Doc
āI used to be in the fashion industry, and when that stopped because of HIV I had to find something to give me the reason to wake up. Painting keeps me going.ā ā Juan-Manuel
āNow Iām even more dependent upon the system. I donāt know if Iām going to receive any help because Iām not deemed valuable.ā ā Steven
āWhen I was first diagnosed I set a goal of living to 30. Then at 30 I set a new goal for 35. Probably somewhere around 40 I thought, āIām not going to die of this.āā ā Eric
SLIDESHOW: Meet the 13 Long-Term Survivors of Film Festival Favorite āDesert Migrationā